CAR T and CAR NK cell therapies are the current rays of hope for cancer treatment. The patient’s own T cells or NK cells – the immune system’s ‘killer’ cells – are furnished with cancer-specific receptors, allowing them to recognize and specifically destroy cancer cells. Scientists at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin have developed a series of new receptors with highly specific binding properties for BCMA (B cell maturation antigen). This antigen is exclusively present on plasma cells, with increased amounts being expressed on malignant cells. Receptors for BCMA are therefore attractive components of cell therapies for multiple myeloma, a common bone marrow tumour resulting from the degeneration of plasma cells.
Ascenion has accompanied the scientists from the patent application stage onwards and helped negotiate an option agreement with the US company Fate Therapeutics. Fate has acquired an option to exclusively license the receptors for use with its own technology platforms, including the development of cell products for cancer therapies based on CAR T and CAR NK cells.
(Annual Review 2018)
